This work develops an approach for the techno-economic comparison of various metallic and organic redox flow batteries. The model established for this purpose enables the investigation of different optimization strategies through sensitivity analyses of real flow battery systems. These strategies are evaluated with respect to energy- and power-specific costs as well as their optimization potential. Furthermore, the integration of degradation studies into the techno-economic analysis allows for a realistic representation of the long-term operation of flow batteries. The resulting insights provide a foundation for the development of targeted cost-reduction strategies. To increase the efficiency of sensitivity analyses, enhance the resolution of data matrices through additional data points, and facilitate integration into application-oriented simulation environments, the techno-economic model was implemented in the software tool “FLOw battery Techno-Economics” (FLOTE). The modeling was supported by a dataset comprising over 300 input parameters, generated through in-house construction of all investigated flow battery systems and extensive laboratory testing. Standardized Vanadium/Vanadium, MV/TEMPOL, and AQDS/BQDS flow batteries were constructed and analyzed under two distinct test scenarios. Among other metrics, component-specific manufacturing costs and technical parameters such as power and energy density were determined as functions of current density and capacity density over cycle number. Detailed sensitivity analyses of several battery parameters with respect to total system costs were conducted, and suitable optimization strategies for cost reduction were identified. Finally, a simplified approach was implemented to enable the model to be used for fine-tuning battery parameters through mathematically reduced applications, supporting targeted cost reductions. In future applications, the model can be extended to industrial-scale systems by incorporating component-level economies of scale. In particular, the open-interface architecture of the FLOTE software allows for the integration of flow batteries into broader simulation environments for energy storage systems, enabling use-case-specific analysis over extended operational lifespans. The optimization strategies and parameter tuning methods developed in this study may further support the commercialization of organic redox flow batteries.
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This work develops an approach for the techno-economic comparison of various metallic and organic redox flow batteries. The model established for this purpose enables the investigation of different optimization strategies through sensitivity analyses of real flow battery systems. These strategies are evaluated with respect to energy- and power-specific costs as well as their optimization potential. Furthermore, the integration of degradation studies into the techno-economic analysis allows for a...
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